News from Ukraine June 14, 2023

June 14 (Day 476)

News from Ukraine

When there is a war, there is not a single day without worries and tears. The nights have become unbearable. Every night, rockets and drones fly at us. And when we hear the alarm sound, we don't know where they will fly, because they can change their directions very fast and many regions stay in tension waiting for hits.
This night Odessa was attacked again. Four cruise missiles were struck from the Black Sea. Three of them were shot down and one hit a civilian object. There are reports of people who died and were wounded.

Last Friday night there were numerous attacks on the Odessa region. We had five air alarms overnight and rockets were fired at residential areas in Odessa and at the village which is close to our town. Sergey’s sister who lives in Odessa could see from her window the fire in the building across the street and the people who ran out of that building and fell down in the street from the next explosion. A little village on the beach, very close to our town was completely destroyed. We heard the sounds of explosions all night, but God miraculously protects our town and we feel so grateful.

Last night the enemy attacked the city of Kriviy Rig, the city where our President was born and grew up. As always, they aimed at residential areas and hit an apartment building, where many people were killed and injured.

Our country is trying to recover from a big flood disaster. But it is hard. The water washed away everything on its way. Here in our area which is many kilometers away from Kherson, we see how the water of our river carries dead animals, pieces of houses, furniture and the worst what can be - the mines. It was strictly announced not to approach the objects that the waves carry ashore.

On Sunday Dr. Anya was in the church and she made an announcement after the worship, she warned us to drink only bottle water and not to eat any fish. There is a threat of infection diseases and we all must be very careful.

Few days ago several vans went to Kherson with food, clothes and bottles of water from our town. The people in many districts there have no water. Several days the local defense center was collecting help for the people of the flooded areas who are still there. Our youth group worked there helping to load the vans. It is very sad to realize that it will take forever to recover for those big territories that are under water now. Experts say that when the water is gone, the fields of the Kherson region will turn into large deserts and it will take decades to create a new irrigation system.

But among this sad information there are some positive news that are so encouraging. About a year ago I asked to pray for Sasha Paskal, a little girl from our area who was badly injured during the rocket attack. The big tragedy for Sasha's family was the decision of the doctors to amputate her leg. After the surgery Sasha with her mother went abroad for the rehabilitation and for a while we did not know anything about the girl. But when Sasha came back few months ago, she became known all over Ukraine. Despite the fact that she walks with a prosthesis, Sasha decided to continue doing gymnastics, as she did before the war. Not long ago she took part in sports competition. The performance of seven-year-old Sasha Pascal in rhythmic gymnastics competitions, in which she won first place, was a proof of courage and incredible strength. We are so proud of Sasha.

Another good news is about our cat who had kittens two days ago. We accepted a stray cat few months ago. We think her owners left and she was looking for a new home. We received her and found out that she was pregnant. It’s so nice to see these little creatures and rejoice to the new life.

We continue the renovation of the building of the Refugee Center and this week the first family is moving in. The first things they asked for were the gardening tools, they want to take care of the yard and garden beds. We hope that the building and the yard will look very different soon.

I want to thank you for your prayers! Please, pray for our soldiers and for people who suffer from attacks, especially for those who lost their family members. And please, thank with us for the good things that happen amidst all the tragedies.

In Christ,
Lyuda

There are photos of volunteers from our local defense group who took the help to Kherson, the photos of the result of night attack at Odessa and the photos of Sasha- gymnast.